Gordon defeated Rankin by a final score of 69-22 to win its third-straight Texas state championship in high school football. The crowd at the game was bigger than the total population of both towns combined.
Seriously.
Think about that for a second. More people showed up to watch the six-man high school football championships than every single person who lives in the towns of the teams that were playing!
Six-man high school football is different.
There are a lot of small towns across the United States that do not have a large enough student body to field a full roster for high school football. They might not even have 11 players in total, let alone 22 individual starters for both sides of the ball.
Those schools compete in six-man football. It’s the same, but different.
- The field is 80 yards by 40 yards instead of 100 yards by 50 yards.
- The offense must gain 15 yards for a first down instead of 10.
- Every player on offense is considered an eligible receiver.
- There must be a “clean exchange” of the football.
- The player who receives the snap must either: pitch, throw or hand off the ball to another player before the ball can be advanced beyond the line of scrimmage.
- A field goal is worth four points.
- A kicked PAT is worth two points.
- A run/pass PAT is worth one point.
- The game is over if a team leads by 45 points or more at halftime.
Games are extremely high scoring and they are always chaotic in the most wonderful ways.
It’s beautiful. And because these small towns are so tight knit, six-man football often means more to the community than the traditional high school football competition in big cities like Dallas.
Texas showed out for the state championship.
Gordon High School is one of the best stories in high school football on any level of competition in any state this season. Its football field was destroyed by an EF-1 tornado in May of this year.
Dozens of homes were destroyed and the high school itself was badly damaged. The tornado destroyed all of the athletic facilities including the football field.
As a result, the Longhorns played only one home game this season. They went undefeated.
Top-ranked Gordon defeated Rankin by 47 points in the 1A Six-Man Division I title game on Wednesday.
The six-man football championships in Texas are played at AT&T Stadium, which can hold a maximum capacity of 80,000. 4,328 fans showed up to watch the six-man powerhouse continue its dynasty.
The crowd was larger than the population of both towns combined.
Gordon, Texas is located about 100 miles west of Dallas. Its total population hovers around 500.
Rankin, Texas is located about 250 miles east of Gordon. Its total population hovers around 800.
Approximately 3,000 more people showed up to watch the Longhorns play the Red Devils in the state championship than the amount of people that live in their respective towns. That’s awesome.